Safiya is the Arabic Safiyya and means "pure" or "sincere friend", from the root that also gives safi, clear. Safiyya bint Huyayy was one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad, which made the name common across the Muslim world. In the United States Safiya has moved up from number 3581 in 2000 and number 2642 in 2015 to number 1333 in 2025, the best rank it has ever had.